Key Findings Details

How Did the Recession of 2007-2009 Affect the Wealth and Retirement of the Near Retirement Age Population in the Health and Retirement Study?Alan L. Gustman, Thomas L. Steinmeier and Nahid Tabatabai
WP 2011-253

Over the period spanning the "Great Recession," 2006 to 2010, the total wealth of the near-retirement population fell by about 2.8 percentage points.

Members of older cohorts had increased their wealth by about 5 percentage points at comparable ages, so in total, the wealth of the near-retirement population was about 8 percentage points lower than it would have been had they experienced the same wealth increase as members of older cohorts.

Retirement is similar to that observed for members of older cohorts at comparable ages.

The major wealth losses were in housing, but Social Security and pensions modulated the negative shocks.

Retirement wealth of poorer households was least affected by the recession.